Dismissal while on probation

TuppenceHapenny

Thank you to those who replied to my previous post. I now have an update and some follow-on questions.

The senior manager who dismissed me has now written a letter. The reason he gives for the dismissal is "...we do not consider that you are a good fit for the role" (and nothing more is stated than that - nothing about who made the decision, what criteria were used to determine my fit, etc). The letter also says that, if I wish, I may appeal the decision and if I do I will be invited to a meeting (nothing was mentioned about this at the meeting where I was dismissed).

My questions regarding the situation are:
- could any of this affect my claim for JSA?
- will the DWP contact the employer regarding my dismissal to find the reasons for it and if so, could the explanation given by the employer affect my claim for JSA?
- could my response to the invitation to appeal the dismissal affect my claim for JSA (i.e. if I do not appeal the dismissal)?
- why might the senior manager now be inviting me to appeal the dismissal when (by all accounts) there is no risk to the employer in not giving a right to appeal?

What are peoples views about appealing the dismissal given that:
- the dismissal decision was apparently made by one person, with whom I had minimal contact during the 4 weeks employed, and may have been based on nothing but his personal prejudices;
- the two department managers who did have contact with me were apologetic about the dismissal and were apparently opposed to it, but could do nothing about it (or so they said);
- I have been given only a vague and open-ended reason for the dismissal (how could I appeal such a vague reason?);
- I have apparently done nothing wrong in my actions and if so have at the least been treated rather brutally by the employer;
- according to the senior manager concerned, I am innately unsuitable for the job and, if so, that seems unlikely to change (so any appeal would surely fail);
- travelling to an appeal meeting will cost me about £20 (which will be wasted if the appeal fails, as seems distinctly possible).

Any further constructive advice will be gratefully received.

Undervalued

To be honest the chances of a successful internal appeal are next to zero. Even if it was, would you really want to continue working there? I don't know the answer to your DWP question but unless anybody can categorically state that not appealing would affect a JSA claim then I would not bother.

As has been mentioned previously, during the first two years you cannot claim unfair dismissal (save for unlawful discrimination). So, apart from satisfying any internal company rules, they have no need to even follow any formal procedure.

They are not obliged to give you any specific reason for your dismissal so they have no doubt just gone through the motions of saying something vague so as not to be rude.

Ultimately, they do not have to employ you. In a way it is a bit like a salesman spending a lot of time demonstrating a high quality product that you are interested in but, for whatever reason, you decide not to buy it.

I can understand that you are upset but it would be far better to move on.

lincroft1710

TuppenceHapenny wrote: »

Any further constructive advice will be gratefully received.

Forget all about this episode in your life and move on